– After a dramatic duel for victory at the Canary Islands Rally, the fifth round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC), Oliver Solberg had to admit defeat shortly before the finish line. A driving error on the penultimate special stage prematurely ended the thrilling battle with his teammate Sebastien Ogier. Solberg subsequently emphasized that he had not driven beyond the limit, but merely needed to improve small details.
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In a right-hand bend behind a crest, his GR Yaris went off track and hit the barrier, which meant an immediate retirement. Solberg explained the incident as follows: “The rhythm in the stage and the speed were good. I wasn’t pushing too much and was six tenths behind Ogier at the split time.”
“It was that one corner with a jump. This morning we were much slower in that stage because it was wet, which is why we hardly jumped. I didn’t expect the car to jump that far. It was a small mistake. We just went off the line and into the guardrails,” said Solberg.
The son of ex-world champion Petter Solberg and nine-time champion Ogier engaged in a fierce battle on Gran Canaria, leading to a nail-biting finale on the Power Stage. Before the penultimate stage, Solberg had reduced the gap to Ogier to just 2.2 seconds. But in an attempt to snatch victory, the young Swede ended up in the guardrails.
Solberg: “Could have been satisfied with second place”
Despite the disappointment of missing out on a top result, the Monte-Carlo Rally winner showed fighting spirit. He had proven that he could compete with one of the greatest rally drivers of all time. “It was hard to judge and it was a small mistake. It was stupid,” he says.
“When you’re fighting, it’s easy to say you’re happy with second place, and that was the original goal. But when you’re only two seconds behind, you have to try. I felt very comfortable in the car today and everything came easily to me. I just misjudged the jump a little bit,” said Solberg.
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Looking to the future, he added: “I have to try to stay positive, look forward and keep pushing. I haven’t done that many rallies in this car yet and have already taken a couple of wins. I just need to improve the small details. The speed and the feeling are there, and that’s fantastic. It was a dream come true to fight against Ogier this weekend.”
Sebastien Ogier kept his cool in the duel
His rival’s retirement significantly reduced the pressure on Ogier. The Frenchman ultimately secured his 68th WRC victory with a 19.9-second lead over his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans. Ogier stated that despite the constant pressure from Solberg, he never panicked. At the time of the accident, the 42-year-old was just ahead of Solberg at the split time.
“Every victory is satisfying, but one after such an intense weekend and a hard fight like this is more enjoyable. It would have been even better if the fight had gone to the end,” Ogier summarized. “It was a lot of fun. It’s actually never my approach to take full risks, everyone knows that. I never panicked, as always, and focused on myself. I wanted to drive as cleanly as possible and maintain this strong rhythm.”
Ogier admitted that it would have been close without the accident: “In that last loop, I had the rhythm I needed to maintain the necessary lead for victory. In the end, it would have been a close call, and it’s hard to say which way it would have gone. We’ll never know.”
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